6 church members slain in rural El Salvador

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador—Officials in El Salvador say six members of an evangelical church were shot to death in a rural western province by suspected gang members.

The federal prosecutor's office says the victims, ranging in age from 16 to 54, were riddled with bullets Saturday night in Ahuachapan state near the border with Guatemala. There are no details on why they were targeted.

Heavily armed gangs control much of El Salvador and are blamed for the Central American country's high murder rate.

Three members of the 18th Street Gang were killed in a separate incident in central El Salvador over the weekend.

The 18th Street and the Mara Salvatrucha are the country's the two biggest gangs. They signed a truce in March 2012 designed to cut the violence.